


So I Saved You.

by futuredays



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Dina (The Last of Us) - Freeform, F/M, Jesse (The Last of Us) - Freeform, Maria (The Last of Us) - Freeform, Tommy (The Last of Us) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 07:34:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26968333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/futuredays/pseuds/futuredays
Summary: Joel is spared by Abby, giving Joel and Ellie the chance to repair their broken bond.
Relationships: Ellie & Joel, Ellie/Joel, Father/Daughter - Relationship
Comments: 12
Kudos: 75





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi :)) So I’m not new to the fandom, however I am new to the fanfic side of this fandom! I’ve had an immense amount of love for Joel and Ellie for years, and let me tell you Part II B R O K E me. I guess this is just a way for me to cope with what we were given bc lemme tell you, we were robbed and we had two of our beloved characters absolutely butchered in the name of ‘development’ (fuck you Neil lmao I’m so MAD). I haven’t written anything since I left school last year, so forgive me if this is a lil trashy or whatever, just trying to get into the swing of things again <3
> 
> Also, I am a literal 80 year old in a 17 year old’s body, I have no fuckin clue how to work this site if I’m being completely honest with you all. So if I haven’t added something that I perhaps should have done (like with that tags or whatever) lmk :)
> 
> Last thing, I tend to /accidentally/ switch tenses in my writing (and ofc sometimes it doesn’t make sense lmao). I could not tell you why it just happens, guess it happens to a lot of us. But just go with it luvs, we die like men😭

_“Don’t make me regret this.”_ The words rang in Ellie’s head, even as the group arrived back in Jackson. The woman who was built like an Ox, with braided hair. Those were her words. Her unbelievable, yet much appreciated words, words that Ellie would never forget, words she actually wanted to  _thank her_ for. However, they were words that fell on highly confused ears, what was this brutal attack for? What had Ellie missed?

Joel was alive. Barely. But still alive.  _Breathing._

Ellie knew he’d never be the same again. Hell, they all knew. Tommy, Jesse, Dina, Maria... everyone. His knee had been blasted to smithereens by a shotgun (as Tommy recalled once he’d regained consciousness). Joel had taken an extreme beating, a golf club being used as her weapon of choice. A slow death was clearly what she wanted to give him; a premeditated murder was the most accurate way to describe the situation that remained a mystery to them all.

His head was bashed open, left ear almost torn in half, swollen eyes, busted lip, a goddamn near broken nose. His face completely covered in blood; an image set to haunt whoever witnessed it. Ellie didn’t even want to begin to think about the inevitability of some — if not most — of his broken ribs and his black and blue torso, the pain he must be in after being used as a pseudo punch bag. And she certainly didn’t want to begin to imagine what this woman’s reasoning was for wanting to do this to someone. To Joel.

The actual extent of his injuries wasn’t yet known to Ellie, she’d been escorted out of the medical clinic in the centre of Jackson by Maria, her aunt, who offered as many words of comfort as she could. ‘Escort’ was a light way of putting it though. When of course, she kicked and screamed as Maria ushered her out of the building with all the strength she had, the anger inside of Ellie rising further at the fact that she was being kept away from him.

_“Get the fuck off me!”_

_”Let me see him!”_

_”Just let me stay with him, Maria, please!”_

A nice mixture of colourful words were thrown at Maria, who was expecting as much from an angered Ellie.

_“You know it won’t do you any good seeing him like that, and it sure as hell ain’t gonna help the Doctors.”_ Ellie remembered her saying in a surprisingly hush tone, her hands rested firmly on her nieces shaky shoulders.  _ “Go home, get him a change of clothes, his toothbrush, some slippers maybe. I don’t know, you know more than anyone what he needs to feel comfortable. And comfort is what he’s gonna need most over these next few days. Keep your head in the sane, rational zone.  **For him.”** _

After being stubborn and arguing why she should stay, Ellie caved. Maria was right — of course — she needed to keep her mind on what mattered most. She needed to do her part to help him, seeing as blubbering away at his side whilst the Doctor’s patched him up really wasn’t going to help. She saw that now.

In his bedroom, she stood at the side of his bed arranging what she needed to take for him. She knew that when he woke up he’d refuse to sleep in any form of clothing that wasn’t his own, (he’d probably refuse to stay in the clinic too, the stubborn man he was) so the first things to enter his bag were two sets of his pyjamas, his grey sweats, a few tank tops — sometimes a tank top and sweats were his preferred sleeping wear, he claimed it ‘depended on his mood’ — and his favourite robe that he’d tend to throw on after he’d showered in a morning. His toothbrush was soon thrown in, a couple pairs of socks, several pairs of boxers and his slippers.

Plopping down on his bed next to his ready packed bag, she sighed and squeezed her eyes shut; her arms trembling as she gripped the bedsheet that was half hanging off the mattress (probably due to Joel’s rough sleeping and his half assed attempt to actually make his bed).

_Things could have gone so differently today._ That was all she could manage to think. What if she hadn’t pleaded with the woman? Begged for her to spare him? Sobbed uncontrollably for her soon to be loss? What if they’d rendered Ellie unconscious just like they had Tommy, so she didn’t even have the chance? So many questions, so many different possibilities. It knocked her sick to her stomach, made her body tremble harder as she tried to get a grip on her thoughts.

_He’s okay Ellie. He’s safe now. He’s alive and when he wakes up you’re gonna hear that gravelly, Texas drawl of his. You’re gonna see those hazel eyes looking right back at yours. You’ll see his signature smile that comes across in a rather shy manner, the smile that melts your heart. You’re gonna feel his rough, calloused hands squeeze yours lightly in the affectionate way he always does to assure you that he’s okay. He’s okay Ellie. He’s okay..._

She mustered up the courage to stand, not quite sure if her legs were going to buckle underneath her or not. When they didn’t, she slung his overnight bag over her shoulder and exited his room, her eyes straight away falling on the two pictures he had framed on a set of drawers at the top of the stairs.

Him and Sarah. At one of her football matches, the pair of them grinning from ear to ear; Joel looking like the proudest dad ever.

Him and Ellie. Their eyes alight with wonder as they took in the view of Shimmer, Ellie’s favourite horse.

A feeling of affection swelled through her chest, causing a few tears to drip down her cheeks.

He still struggled when it came to Sarah, which was more than expected of course. His only child, ripped away from him, her last breath taken in his arms. Ellie knew this all too well. In the many years she’d known him now, she’d come to know him better than anyone. He’d opened up to her many times, not afraid to show the real Joel. Not afraid to cry, sob, break down.

She also knew now that his undying love for his daughter didn’t make Ellie anything less to him.  _‘You’re not my daughter’_ didn’t ring so true now. They’d never spoken it in such words in the presence of each other, but when somebody referred to Joel as her dad in a sentence, or her ‘old man’, she never once corrected them. There was nothing to correct, after all. He wasn’t just the man who smuggled her out of the Boston QZ, or the man who huffed and grunted at her when she tried to converse with him, or the man who tried to pawn her off to his brother to get her the rest of the way to the fireflies.

He was her friend.

Her partner.

Her family.

_Her dad._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell, when it comes to writing I prefer to stick to quite a simplistic style. You see author’s who write so beautifully with all these big words and make their work sound so poetic, that just ain’t me lmao😭 Like I said it’s been a year since I left school, so I’m a lil rusty with punctuation and whatnot! But there we have it.
> 
> Anyway, I plan on this being a good few chapters long, not quite sure how many yet, but I wanna give myself a good chance to put my feelings into words with these characters.
> 
> Part 2 completely fucked both Ellie & Joel’s characters up for me, they were completely unrecognisable and the way Neil handled their relationship hurts me deeply. Whilst the game was beautiful graphic wise, along with the soundtrack and new characters introduced being amazing too, the storyline... huge no for me. That’s what kinda inspired me to give my own story a go, plus I’ve literally read every EllieJoel fanfic out there, so a large handful of y’all have inspired me too <33
> 
> I haven’t quite decided if in this fanfiction Dina’s going to be pregnant or not, because Jesse was a favourite character of mine so I don’t plan on following canon with his death, and I wouldn’t know how to write DinaEllie with Jesse, plus DinaEllie seemed a little rushed to me in the game and I’d wanna focus more on them being a slowburn, but as I said I’m still not sure how long this story will be. So I guess we’ll see where this goes! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Apologies for the late update. Long story short, I suffered a loss at the end of October. My dog became very ill and within two weeks of us getting the news, we sadly had to take one final trip to the vets with him. So I kinda lost inspiration and got stuck with this chapter, but here it is now.
> 
> I honestly haven’t properly read this through to check for mistakes and what not (I also wrote a chunk of this chapter when I was extremely hungover) so again, apologies if anything doesn’t make sense.
> 
> Some nice TommyEllie moments in this one :)) They’re one of my favourite familial relationships and probably one of my favourite parts of Part 2 (even though their last scene together was so sad).
> 
> Enjoy I guess!

Winter was the one season that she hated. A little bit of snow here and there with a tolerable breeze never hurt anyone, but snowstorms like these? She could definitely live without them. And she could definitely live without the painful memories from  _that_ winter; the winter that still haunted her from many years ago and remained a nightmare she couldn’t escape from.

However, she was grateful for the dreaded season at this particular moment, because at least she could walk freely and be left alone with her thoughts. The streets of Jackson were normally flooded with residents during the day, rambling away at their neighbours about what they’d had for dinner last night, or complaining about how tired they were and what they’d give to have the day off. But today, the streets were eerily silent as the snow blanketed the ground; screeching winds occasionally rising out of nowhere, nipping awkwardly at Ellie’s sliced right cheek. 

She scoffed at the memory of how she’d gotten said wound no more than 5 hours ago.

_“How about a parting gift? Matching scars sound pretty cute to me.”_ If she remembered correctly, his name was Jordan. He who’s face she’d sliced open upon seeing the treacherous torture her companion was going through, her mind set on reaching him and killing any bastard who got in her way. She remembered Jordan crying out in pain, cupping his face as the blood poured from his cheek. She felt accomplished at the sight, damn near smirked until she was restrained to the floor, until she remembered the situation they were in.

She wasn’t as much of a dramatiser about it when he returned the laceration, placing his blade in the middle of her right cheek, dragging it downwards as slow as he could — applying more pressure as he did. Most likely in hopes to get some sort of reaction from her.

_You don’t realise how lucky you are that I’m still pinned down motherfucker,_ she cursed in her head as she looked up at him in disgust, a malicious scowl planted on his face as he curved his blade at the very last second, swiping it across the tip of her nose as a finishing touch — finally eliciting a hiss from Ellie, sucking air through her teeth as the fresh wound throbbed.

_“Now every time you look in the mirror, you’ll think of my beautiful face.”_ His smirk was nothing but pure evil. An image that would remain locked away in Ellie’s head, ready to jump out at any given moment to remind her of that day.

“Egotistic fucker...” she spat, her sudden outburst of words bringing her to the realisation that she was no longer in that basement, she was a couple of strides away from the clinic, and she was also thinking out loud again. “Okay.” She took a deep breath in through her nose, her eyes fluttering shut as she did so, exhaling a few seconds later. She admired how her breath showed as a plume of white steam in the nippy air once she’d wearily opened her eyes — a sudden tiredness overcoming her. She exhaled a few more times and watched her breath dance around in the air, mainly trying to distract herself from the knots of anxiety forming in her stomach, adding to the ones that were already there.

Approaching the entrance, she felt the contrast between the warmth of the clinic and the winter’s breeze, a comfort that spread across her reddened cheeks and nose. A new type of comfort washing over her as she spotted Tommy, hunched forward in his seat in the waiting room — elbows resting on his knees. All traces of cold air a thought of the past, she was just glad to see him; glad he was okay.

“Tommy...” she advanced in his direction, guilt washing over her as she’d not yet checked on him to see if he was okay, being so caught up in Joel and the abuse he’d faced. “Hey.” The softness of her tone didn’t hide the twang of guilt lingering in her voice.

A weak smile curled upon his lips as he dragged himself to his feet, arms opening wide for a hug. “Hey kid.” His voice hoarse, yet endearing as always. He’d developed quite a soft spot for Ellie who he saw as his niece, always happy to see her.

She snuggled her head into his chest, her arms wrapping around his waist as his arms engulfed her shoulders, his chin resting gently on her head for a few moments. Both thinking, but not speaking out loud, that they really took small moments like these for granted. Mental notes were made that affection didn’t need to be treated so scarcely. It wasn’t like ammo, which needed to be preserved. There was plenty of love to go around, it was the only thing guaranteed to be unlimited.

“I’m sorry I didn’t check on you sooner,” she gently pulled away, twiddling her thumbs around each other as he took his seat again, “I was y’know... distracted with...” she trailed off, motioning towards the hallway she’d seen the doctors trolley Joel down before she’d been forced to leave.

“Y’ve got nothin’ to apologise for, Ellie. I’m absolutely fine, nothin’ a good nights rest ‘nd a few painkillers won’t fix.” She took the seat next to him, releasing an exasperated sigh. “Never mind me, what the hell happened to your face?” He tilted her chin towards him to get a better look at her.

Ellie scoffed, the mentioning of the wound magically summoning the pain again, which she’d all but forgotten about in the few short minutes since she’d arrived in the clinic. “Sliced one of those assholes cheek open, as I recall he wanted to give us ‘matching scars’...” she made air quotes with her fingers, stifling a laugh as she reflected on the young man’s words again, “— creepy fucker.” She began to turn her face away, wanting nothing more than to settle in her seat and get comfortable until she could see Joel — Tommy soon stopped her.

“Nuh uh... you’re gonna get that cleaned and stitched. I ain’t having Joel bite my head off when he wakes up.”

Another scoff escaped her lips. “Why the fuck would he bite  _your_ head off? You didn’t do it.” Ellie knew the answer, but raised her eyebrow inquisitively anyway, her light banter with Tommy easing her worries ever so slightly. 

“‘Cause if that gets infected an’ causes you more pain than it’s already pro’ly doin’, he’ll blame me ya dumbass!” Getting to his feet, Tommy tugged at the sleeve of her coat. “Y’know I’m right. I personally think you just wanna see Joel kick my ass for some entertainment.” He quipped, a playful smile on his lips as Ellie also rose from her seat.

“You got me there Tommy.” She chuckled lightly as they made their way towards one of the free ‘hospital’ rooms. They had a fairly impressive clinic, several overnight rooms with in-good-condition beds and salvaged monitors from nearby hospitals that did the job. Plenty of rooms that were used as doctor’s offices where people had their regular check ups done, just like in the ‘old world’. They even had their own staff room for the doctors and nurses, a room where they brewed coffee and tea when they had no work to do; a room where they could relax on comfy sofas and listen to music if they were inclined to do so.

“Go on, sit down whilst I get someone in here.” He pushed her lightly down onto the bed of the room they’d entered, turning on his heel soon afterwards, exclaiming  _‘Can I get some assistance in here?’_ as he approached the staff room, searching for a nurse or doctor.

Ellie chuckled once again, shaking her head lightly as she watched her legs swing backwards and forwards, her feet just barely reaching the ground. Tommy really didn’t have to do much to amuse her.

They never stopped speaking when she and Joel did, but things indefinitely changed between them. She wasn’t sure if Tommy understood her side of the argument, he probably did or he’d have said otherwise, but she knew his heart ached for his older brother. She could see it, he could see it, everyone could see that Joel had changed ever since that unpleasant truth was unveiled. Of course, only Tommy and Maria knew the reasoning for the fall out — for obvious reasons.

_‘Don’t you fucking touch me!’_

He became even more reserved than he already was. Didn’t show up to events around town, didn’t stick around to talk to the guys after his shift was finished; just focused on getting back to the confines of his empty home to be alone.

_‘I’ll go back, but we’re done.’_

The memory of her words sent a shiver down her spine. The tinge of regret she carried ever since that fateful day had only gone and completely taken over her since he was attacked; she couldn’t shake the thought that if things had gone differently, he’d have died thinking she despised him.

“Hey...” Ellie’s head snapped up as her thoughts were interrupted by Tommy, a worried look planted on his face. “You not hear me? You looked a lil lost in yer head there.”

“Guess I was,” she released a sigh as he seated himself beside her on the bed, “sorry, what did you say?”

“Just that a doctor should be in shortly. The majority of the staff are at an emergency town meeting, so they’re understaffed for an hour or so. Maria thought it’d be best t’make everyone aware of the situation earlier rather than later; make it known to everyone t’be extra vigilant on patrols and to stay extremely cautious on wall duties.”

Ellie nodded her head in agreement with Maria’s logic, her mind mainly focused on the slight possibility that the group of attackers were still close by. “It’s unlikely they hung around, if they did it’d make them pretty fucking stupid.” Ellie managed to spit out. Just the thought of them made her blood boil, made her fists involuntarily clench so tight that she was sure her fingernails would be leaving several marks on her palms.

“Reckon you need to calm down a touch,” Tommy swatted at her hands, his eyes narrowing, “— cut that shit out too. Don’t need another thing added to the list of what Joel’s gonna give me ‘n earful of when he wakes up.”

“I know.” She exhaled, rubbing her eyes gently before resting her elbows on her knees, her hands clasping together at the back of her neck. “It’s just... those fuckers. They get to get away with this. Joel’s in there half de-...” she swallowed the lump in her throat, closed her eyes to cut off any tears that attempted to escape, “— and they’re fine. Breathing. Living the same, normal way they were before. Joel can’t have that now. His life’s been fucking compromised. And for what?” She lifted her head up to meet Tommy’s eyes.

There was a long moment of silence, confirming Ellie’s suspicions. Tommy was thinking the exact same thing as herself, feeling the same amount of anger as she was that they’d gotten away with this. She could see it in his eyes, in his body language; his figure completely tensed up.

“Ellie...” he began softly, his body relaxing ever so slightly as he released a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, “I understand more than anyone,  _believe me_.  But  _you_ have to understand that he’s here and he’s safe. He’s okay.” A gentle placement of his hand on her shoulder was a gesture made in hopes that she knew he really did understand what she was saying.

“Look, I don’t know what you said to that girl to make her stop. All I know is she really had it in for us;  for _Joel_ .” His hand moved to her chin, pinching it lightly between his index finger and thumb. “Appreciate that he’s still here. Everything happens for a reason my little friend.”

“Shut up you nerd.” Ellie tittered, a small smile playing on her lips. “I’m not thinking of doing anything stupid if that’s what you’re worrying about. I wouldn’t risk his life like that, it’s just—“

“Look, this may land me a well deserved punch if it comes out a little insensitive,“ Tommy interrupted, internally cringing at the words he was about to let loose, not being able to keep his thoughts at bay any longer, “— you’ve barely uttered four words to Joel in the past two years. If I remember his words correctly, you made it absolutely clear you were done with him.” His playful smile had dissipated, his brows furrowed in utter confusion.

“Why do you care so much? Now, I mean.” He found the words were tumbling out of his mouth before he could even think of a more sincere way to put them.

Ellie flinched, her body mirroring the same level of stiffness Tommy’s had been moments before. Is that what he thought? That she’d stopped caring about Joel?

Is that what Maria thought?

Dina?

Jesse?

_... Joel?_

Suddenly, her mind was racing with a million and one thoughts. Over thinking every single encounter they’d had since the fall out: every glare, every curse under her breath, every avoidance, every awkward silence when the other one walked into a room.

_“He looks like a kicked puppy.”_ Words Ellie had heard one too many times over the past two years; a close knit community such as Jackson knew everybody’s business, meaning gossip was of course to be expected at times.

Ellie didn’t think much of it the times she’d heard it, but sat here in the present, she felt tears prick her eyes as that  _‘kicked puppy’_ look he’d adopted over the years centred her vision.

She knew it wasn’t what he did that he regretted, he’d made that perfectly clear the night before when she visited him, it was the lying about it to her that he regretted. And whilst he said he’d do it all over again, she knew it hit him hard when she ended the bond they had. All those movie nights, all those family dinners and game nights, all those times when he’d wrapped her in his arms when her regular panic attacks had ceased; those times were over. And it killed him. She knew that.

“I’m sorry if that came out harsh or sudden... but you understand why I’m asking, don’t you?” His voice was gentle, sympathetic.

“I do.” She mumbled. “But I was hoping you understood that I obviously still care about him.” Her shy eyes met his, glossed over a tad. “Looking back, I understand why you might’ve gotten that impression. Why Joel might’ve. But I was hoping you knew me well enough to know  _deep down_ that that wasn’t the case.” Silence. For a few moments, anyway.

“Y’know, it’s kinda weird to hear that coming from you, Tommy.” She continued, thinking back on a memory she could use as a form of defence. “Joel never trusted me enough to open up to me whilst we were out on the road, but every now and then, he’d let something slip about his past. Something that could bring me closer to him, help me understand him more. He never told me that in such words, but I understand now that that’s what he was doing. And if I remember rightly, just before we reached your dam, he told me that the last thing you said to him was,  _‘I never wanna see your goddamn face again_ _’_.” Her face was calm even though there was a detectable amount of anger in her voice.

“You welcomed him with open arms. After all those years of separation and hatred. How is that different to this situation? How can you possibly sit and ask me why I care that my da-“ her words cut short as her sudden bravery to finally say the d word out loud ceased. “You get the point.” She flicked her hand in the air before sherubbed at her eyes with her palms, keeping them rested there as her elbows once again connected with her knees, trying to summon the courage to look at Tommy again.

“Can’t argue with that.” His defeated tone of voice filled the room, a new silence glooming over them. Not an awkward one, or an angry one, or an unwelcome one. But a silence of understanding. A silence that was cut short as they were brought back to reality when a doctor entered the room, causing Ellie to release a disdainful sigh.

“Let’s just get this over with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so as we can imagine, with the extent of Joel’s injuries, he’d probably have been out like a light for a good few days (weeks even, I’m not an expert lmao) if he survived. So there’ll be a 3 day or so time jump, but the next chapter Ellie can finally go and see an unconscious Joel :))
> 
> The next chapter I wanna try incorporate EllieMaria and possibly EllieDina too, just as a bit of a filler until Joel wakes up.
> 
> I wish we got more Maria content :(( She was really interesting, and I wish we saw more of her relationship with Tommy, Ellie and Joel.
> 
> Anyway hope you guys liked this chapter! Will try not to leave it so long until I update again. However, I do have a job interview soon, so I may or may not be swamped with work very soon. Thanks for the lovely comments and kudos you guys have left so far <333
> 
> i tOLD YOU GUYS I CANT WORK THIS SITE why are the notes from my previous chapter showing up here??? LMAO i hate my life


End file.
